Kirby Air Racers
by Pikmin.fan1991
Summary: The Cappies, after being urged to do so, have created an annual tournament for Air Racing, and thousands of spectators have come to watch the Air Racers who signed up for the tournament race for the championship trophy. How will this end? Rated K plus for somewhat tense scenes.
1. The Creation of Air Racing

_**Another story, yay. I decided to write this one after getting back into the Kirby series (not that I left, just that I didn't play the games for a while), and I think I'm one of only a few to write a fanfic regarding Kirby Air Ride. Yay, uniqueness!**_

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In a faraway corner of the universe, there was a star-shaped planet. This planet went by the name of Pop Star, as it looked quite a lot like a star, complete with atmospheric gases turning it bright yellow from space. On that planet, there was a great diversity of creatures, each with their own special talents. These creatures ranged from the ever-peaceful and lovable Waddle Dee to the somewhat frightening Wham-Bam Rock. Perhaps the most well-known of all of them were the Cappies, because not only were they the best of friends with the powerful fighter, Kirby, they also came up with the most popular past time of all of Pop Star; Air Racing. Air Racing, as the name suggests, is the equivalent of racing, complete with challenges, practice called Free Run mode, as well as time challenges. The only thing different was that the Cappies had all sorts of machines specialized for different racing preferences. There were machines for the speed demons, like the Turbo Star and Formula Star, those for tricky racers, like the Slick Star and Swerve Star, those for general racing, like the Wagon Star and Warp Star, and quite a few others.

There was a grand total of sixteen Air Ride machines created for the purpose of racing, and even Meta Knight and King Dedede joined in the fun, but the Cappies did not stop there; they went around Dream Land in search of potential courses. They found a peaceful meadow, a mystifying forest, a cool desert, a facility in a cold glacier, an active volcano, a large group of huge plants, an unused research facility, a checkered castle, and a grand figure-8 in outer space. Each track had its own secrets, as well as its own special strategy for success, yet they all had one thing in common; they attracted attention from all of Pop Star's racers. After a while, the Cappies further expanded upon the foundation of Air Racing by having smaller, simpler tracks found reminiscent of the tracks they found for Air Racing; they found one for all but the glacier and castle tracks. They then built two more machines with straightforward, equally balanced capabilities; the Free Star and Steer Star. There were major cosmetic differences, and there were two minor differences for the two machines in regards to steering; the Steer Star was built so you would lean to the side to steer it, like the classic Air Ride machines, while the Free Star was built so you would apply weight to the side of the machine you wanted to turn to, so, for instance, leaning back would make the machine turn 180 degrees. The new Air Ride type was called Top Ride, since the camera was held in the sky.

Then the Cappies returned to their Air Ride mode and an idea came to them; they could use a city filled with special power-up items to add to the thrill of Air Racing. After creating countless patches for each specific attribute, they came up with the name City Trial. They found an abandoned island and had a city built there. When the builders were cleaning up, they found large pieces of what seemed to be two new machines. They laid them on the ground, and sure enough, they fit together perfectly. These two machines were called the Dragoon and the Hydra, the former because of its resemblance to a dragon, to include flight capabilities, the latter because of its raw destructive power and monstrous speed once fully charged. They were both dismantled and spread throughout the city with their parts in red boxes. They had two more machines built especially for this type of Air Ride; the Compact Star and Flight Star. However, since the massive crowds of racers and spectators demanded they get to racing on the new Air Ride mode, the Flight Star's full development couldn't be finished, and only one fully functional Flight Star was available to the masses, so it was put in the Free Run part of the City Trial course. After one race on the Air Ride tracks with their powered-up Air Ride machines, however, the Air Racers demanded that there be special challenges that were different from racing, and soon the Cappies had specialized stadiums built throughout areas in their tracks and city, ranging from a straight-up speed contest to a demolition derby, which more than pleased the Air Racers for a long while.

However, after 10 years of racing and competing, Air Racers have unanimously signed a petition; this petition demanded that an Air Ride Tournament be held, and the winner of these annual tournaments win a commemorative trophy. The Cappies fully accepted this idea, since the total number of competitions to host would be around forty, giving them time each year to prepare for the next tournament. The only stipulation being that each competition be held once a week, to give amateur Air Racers the chance to have fun without having to worry about tough competitors ruining the fun. The compromise was accepted, and soon the Cappies began organizing the first tournament, which they called the Cloud Tournament. Now, let's follow the race with our own eyes, shall we?

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_**Alright, news time: I have put CoS on hiatus for a while, until I come up with more ideas for (possibly pitiful) humor. I am trying to decide whether or not to continue writing out my RDF story; I like writing, but it takes too long. Any thoughts, people who read my stories?**_

_**Anyway, since summer break is about to spread its wings and take flight for a few weeks, I can get more writing done than usual (hopefully).**_


	2. Schedules and the First Race

_**Haha, the first chapter to Kirby Air Racers! On the day summer break takes flight! Dou-ble wham-my! :D Hope it's at least slightly entertaining.**_

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Two Cappies, one wearing a green, dressy shirt, the other wearing a blue shirt adorned with a star pattern, were pacing back and forth in the study of a rather cozy house. A soothing, not-too-hot fire flickered in the room, producing a soft orange glow. Before them, possibly a few dozen different drawings of calenders were laying on a table, with quite a number of papers balled up and littering the floor of the study. The Cappy wearing green looked out of the window, noted the moon hanging not far above the treetops and slowly, steadily rising, then returned to the drawings on the table.

"All right, now that we have the weeks set up, how do you suppose we do this, Cappyton," The Cappy asked. "The Air Racers are expecting us to have a spectacular racing tournament, but we can't have it if we're stuck on the schedules. Which form of Air Ride should we host first?"

"Well, if we hosted City Trial first, we could get the hardest part out of the way." The Cappy named Cappyton suggested.

"Yes, but we want Air Racers to have a good time, and I don't think they would want to have City Trial first."

"But at the same time, Cappsend, we need to think about our time constraints. Hosting City Trial first would give us plenty of possibilities."

"But then we would inevitably have to have the final City Trial event hosted before Fantasy Meadows and others, and we all know how the Riders will react to that."

"Well, I guess that eliminates City Trial first... How about Top Ride?"

"You know, now that I really think about it, you would think the Riders would want to see the tournament hosted in the order that we came up with the Air Ride forms. The fans also seem to be that way. I'm for Air Ride, Top Ride, then City Trial."

"Hmm... Sounds good, but..." Cappyton trailed off as he took up another calender and began writing event names on the Saturday blocks of each week. Soon, though, he crumpled up the paper and picked up another one. This process repeated for about an hour and a half, even with both participating in scheduling the events, and soon, they found an order that they both felt would be well accepted among the Air Racers and fans alike.

"Well now, this is stupendous! Now all we need is an announcer!" Cappyton exclaimed gleefully.

"Yes, but where will we-" Cappsend was cut off as a small, dark brown creature wearing a blue, white, and gold attire floated into the study. Both Cappies were startled by the creature's arrival, as the door was locked and no noise was made.

"I couldn't help but overhear your troubles, and I think I can help you out," the little creature said. "You know me as Magolor, and I want to volunteer to be this year's announcer. It's the least I could do, considering your hospitality to me despite my past."

"Well, that's great, but are you good with crowds," Cappyton asked. "I mean, it's not that we doubt you, but even the best of them can be tripped up when in front of a lot of people."

"I think I can handle the fans. After all, they're there to see the Air Racers do their thing, not stare holes into me." Magolor responded.

"Well, in that case, let's get the tracks ready for racing," Cappsend responded gleefully. "We will have some fun memories once this is all over! I think we will call this the Cloud Tournament."

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The first Saturday of the Cloud Tournament, and the clean-up for Fantasy Meadows took hardly any time at all, since the wind blew most of the litter towards a conveniently placed den of fire-happy Burning Leos. After getting the one candy wrapper that refused to be blown away picked up and thrown out, Cappyton and Cappsend began setting up their commentary seats; Magolor, being able to levitate, considered the air his commentary seat. Satisfied, Cappyton told the security guards to open the admittance booths, which, after a minute and a half, was met with a tremendous mob of Cappies, Waddle Dees, and many other characters bickering over seats. After a few minutes of settling into their seats, Magolor began introducing them to the tournament and how it would work.

Meanwhile, the first four Air Racers were choosing their Air Ride machine for the race. The racers were a slightly red Waddle Dee wearing a cape who liked to be referred to as Sir Deedle Doo, a Knuckle Joe with a wacky purple afro by the name of Disco, a Bronto Burt who was born unable to fly who was nicknamed Pinky, and a Burning Leo with an eye-catching blue mane who was called by his many fans The Blue Blur. The Blue Blur instinctively chose the Formula Star to match his status of speedy and blue, while Pinky chose the Wagon Star because he always loved sushi. Disco found Slick Star to be very groovy, while Sir Deedle Doo chose the Jet Star, finding it worthy of his "social class." After their choices were made, they went to the Air Ride warp zone, which, as the name suggests, takes an Air Racer to the track of their choice. All of the destinations were set to Fantasy Meadows, a track in the shape of an oval with a general grassy theme. All they had to do was press the brightly illuminated green "Yes" button after Magolor finished describing the rules of the Cloud Tournament.

"...and that covers it." They heard Magolor announce over the slightly tinny speakers installed in the ceiling. "Now, remember that each race is ten laps each, to add to the excitement. Are you ready to see an awesome first race?!" This question was met with the deafening combined cheers of the crowd, and this was the participants' cue to press the "Yes" button. After three said their good lucks to the others and Deedle Doo arrogantly announcing he would win by touching the ground, they were instantly taken to the track.

"And now, Birdons, Wheelies, and all in between! Let the annual Air Ride tournament begin!"

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_**Ah, the joy of the uppity. ( - sarcasm mode, just so you know) Well, at least the crowds are about to get an insane day of racing! Yay, uber-long race days!**_

_**On another note, first ever shout-out! Go check out this author; KatrinaLinden ! Go, cool author girl!**_**  
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	3. Tense Race and a Stinging Loss

_**I... don't really have anything to say for the top... Except that sometimes Minecraft servers can be a real pain in the neck! -_-**_

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The spectators went into an uproar as the race began. Disco immediately took the lead with Slick Star, though Pinky quickly overtook him on Wagon Star, and became tied for third with Deedle Doo and Jet Star when he couldn't figure out quick enough how to turn a Slick Star. The Blue Blur, much to the dismay of his fans, remained in dead last, though his ride was beginning to pick up some speed. The increase from the usefully placed Boost Pad, as well as a well-executed jump from the ramp and landing, and he quickly left the other two to watch his mane blaze behind him as he gained on Pinky. However, the Blur had trouble turning Formula Star, and the burst of speed was ended abruptly when he forgot to Quick Boost around the bend. This left him in dead last by the end of the first lap, to the irritation of him and the joy of the other racers. The Blur decided to use a different tactic, and veered directly behind Disco and Slick Star. The speed boost from the draft helped the Blur push past both Disco and Deedle Doo, leaving them to struggle against being fourth while fans of the respective racers cheering every time one passed the other.

Pinky, meanwhile, was having an excellent time on the track thanks to the superb capabilities of Wagon Star, for which he was very thankful for. As he approached the exit of the small, yet pretty cavern within a giant, windmill-like mountain, he heard The Blue Blur's Formula Star's characteristic "virring" from the entrance to the cave. Assuming that he would again have trouble on the sharp turn ahead, Pinky didn't pay much heed to it. However, as he crossed the line for the third lap, he was momentarily side-by-side with The Blur, and shortly afterwards in second place. Ticked off at what could only be the result of drafting, which it was, Pinky decided to do the same to The Blur. Pinky overtook the Formula Star in no time, thanks to both the speed increase from draft and from The Blur's overconfidence reducing a lot of his speed as he hit the boundary vine while he was busy posing for the camera.

"Serves you right for being cocky!" Pinky shouted to him as he passed the now struggling Formula Star. The Blur's response was that of the oh-so cliched blazing anger, which was further provoked by the passing of Disco and Deedle Doo, both laughing and sticking their tongues out at him as they passed.

"Well, that must be sad to be The Blue Blur right now." Cappyton noted comically. The Blur, meanwhile, began drafting again, this time on Disco, who faltered slightly on his landing from the ramp jump, causing him to lose speed. "And all he wanted was a good head-shot, too."

"He's all head! There's really no room for improvement." Cappsend joked, to the amusement of both commentators and some in the audience. Meanwhile, Pinky and The Blur, who managed a spectacular comeback from his earlier slip-up, were locked in a rather intense battle for first, both grinding the sides of their Air Ride machines together in hopes of pushing the other away, and the machines created a rough, scraping noise. This continued into the fourth lap until The Blur hit the same boundary vine from earlier, which resulted in him dropping to last place, while Pinky slowed down and successfully completed his turn.

"Oof, talk about deja vu! The Blur's just not having a good time on this track today, is he?" Magolor noted. Secretly, he was just as amused by The Blur's slip-ups as the other two were, but he made a vow to be impartial to everything that happened on the track unless it was just too extreme on the emotional scale to contain. The Blur, rather than get angry again, decided to stay calm and focus not on trying to show off but instead on the track and the competitors. This resulted in him quickly overtaking Slick Star and Jet Star, while he began to gain on Pinky on the final stretch of the fourth lap. The Blur was about to overtake Pinky, but Pinky quickly veered in front of him at the last second, gaining a forceful punt forward as the Formula Star rammed into the back of Pinky's Wagon Star. They then began to enter another clash, this time with The Blur being attentive of the boundary vine and completing a successful turn before they continued their clash.

Disco and Deedle Doo had entered a similar clash, except this one was more intense and violent; sparks flew from both machines grinding against each other as the two competitors tried knocking the other off of their Air Ride machine. They were crossing the bridge when Deedle Doo got a sly idea and trapped Slick Star in a lock using the wings of his Jet Star. He then veered sharply left, sending Slick Star into the extremely rigid rope supporting the bridge and continued assailing Disco. This abuse resulted in the Slick Star being badly scratched and dinged by the time they had fully crossed the bridge, to the joy of Deedle Doo, who then released Disco and continued racing. This act ticked off Disco, who decided to return the favor. He quickly caught up to Deedle Doo just before they got to a craggy rock path leading to the cave in the mountain and punched the back left wing of Jet Star, causing it to hit the barrier-like rock on either side, pong style. Deedle Doo regained control of his machine upon entering the cave and watched as Disco passed him while doing the ever cliched 70s disco dance. This ticked Deedle Doo off to no end, and he began catching up to him on the final stretch of the, being helped by both draft and the speed boost his machine got from gliding off of a ledge. Disco, however, was expecting this response from his taunt, and waited until Deedle Doo was right behind him, then grabbed one of the lavender orbs that circled around his machine and flung it. This caused the other three orbs to spin violently around his machine, which subsequently hit Deedle Doo once, causing him to fly at such an angle that he bounced off of the boundary vine and got hit by the lavender orbs a second time right as the two racers began the sixth lap.

"Wow. That was a resourceful move on Disco's behalf." Disco left Deedle Doo while the latter was still recovering from the hit from Disco and Slick Star. When he fully recovered, he began trying to catch up to Disco again. Again using the speed boost from gliding to catch up, he managed to get within draft distance of his rival toward the end of the sixth lap. Disco saw this and feigned ignorance, veering sharply to the left to let Deedle Doo pass, then positioning himself directly behind Jet Star and punching it again, this time in the engine. This resulted in the Jet Star losing all control, veering wildly to the right, then bouncing off of the boundary vine and to the left. This move was a double-edged sword, however; the heat of the engine burned Disco's hand, and he lost focus trying to cool his hand down, which resulted in Jet Star colliding with his machine before he could react and sending him to the left sharply. Disco regained his composure quickly and began disco dancing again.

By the time Deedle Doo regained his composure, Pinky and The Blur, who were both still locked in a struggle for first, zipped right past him and started crossing the bridge. Realizing that he had no hope of winning first in the race, he knew he could still beat out Disco for third place, and quickly drafted on the two clashing racers and passed by them once they were off of the bridge, though the two payed him little mind. He then used the grind rail to get a better angle on his take-off, which payed off since he was able to catch a glimpse of Disco exiting the mountain cave, telling Deedle Doo how much distance was between them. Right before he landed, The Blur and Pinky raced past him again, giving him another chance at drafting, which he took. He momentarily passed them when he took off from the ledge, but they quickly got in front of him again, both momentarily looking confused as to what Deedle Doo was doing, until The Blur tapped Pinky's wing with his foot, and the two went back to bickering. When the three racers entered the final stretch of Deedle Doo's seventh lap, all three saw Disco break-dancing on his Air Ride machine. This freaked out Pinky and The Blur to the point where they pretended to have just met and started an engaging conversation as they raced on, while Deedle Doo was yet again ticked off and proceeded to draft on Disco, who this time didn't see his enemy coming.

The next thing Disco knew was the not-so-cool feeling of being flung forward and almost off of his Air Ride machine, only being saved by grabbing onto one of the orbs around his machine. As he struggled to get back onto his machine, not being helped by the fact that the orb kept spinning around it regardless of whether or not he wanted it to, Deedle Doo tapped the Slick Star lightly with Jet Star, sending it to the left and toward the boundary vine. This caused Disco to frantically flail about in an attempt to get back on his machine and stop it from colliding with the vine, because he knew the impact would fling him off easily, regardless of how light it was. He managed to get back on just as it hit the vine, jostling him since he just got seated comfortably. By then, all three of the other Air Racers had put a lot of distance between him and themselves, with Deedle Doo just getting off of the bridge while the other two were about to enter the mountain cave. Disco, now more than peeved at Deedle Doo's sneak attack, Quick Boosted onto the bridge and gained speed by pulling forward on the ropes on the bridge, giving him just enough of a speed boost to catch up with the Jet Star and its rider. Luckily for Disco, Deedle Doo was apparently off in La-La-Land, as he managed to get beside the Jet Star and punch it forcibly without being attacked. The unexpected attack almost sent Deedle Doo flying off of his Air Ride machine and past the boundary vine.

"Well, now! Disco's sure coming back with a vengeance!" Cappyton remarked. "Poor Deedle Doo! I'm not sure how much more damage that Jet Star can take!" As he said that, Disco was continuing his Vulcan Jab assault on Jet Star and, by extension, its rider as they turned onto the craggy path. Though the Vulcan Jab was incredibly weak, the speed at which the next attack comes is enough to overwhelm any target. Each hit knocked the Jet Star more and more off balance; fortunately for Deedle Doo's Jet Star and his motion sickness, he was able to get out of Disco's attack range momentarily thanks to the ledge in the cave. Deedle Doo knew that this break wouldn't last long; he waited until Disco was right behind him to make his move. Deedle Doo performed a Star Spin and simultaneously slowed his machine, forcing Disco's Slick Star to run full force into the attack, knocking him off balance and leaving noticeable dents in his Air Ride machine. Deedle Doo then kicked the Slick Star to the left with all his might; needless to say, Slick Star didn't move very far, and all the attempt did was further provoke Disco, who wheeled around and brought his conjoined fists down on the machine. Deedle Doo was thrown off of his machine as it crashed into the ground and subsequently spiraled upward. It bounced up and down a few times before finally exploding into stardust. Deedle Doo stared dumbfounded at where his machine exploded, visibly upset about his loss.

"Oh, my!" Magolor exclaimed. "It looks like Deedle Doo's Air Ride machine just got destroyed by Disco. We should consider ourselves lucky that Deedle Doo escaped unharmed. Who knows what could have happened!" Everyone in the audience and the other competitors, even Disco, were shocked at what just happened, and the latter group got off of their machines and ran over to console Deedle Doo, despite his earlier arrogance. Everyone, that is, except Disco, who felt too guilty about this to think he would be any help. The other two racers scowled bitterly at him, while Deedle Doo still stared absently at where some of the stardust from the machine fluttered next to his left foot.

"Well, Deedle Doo, unfortunately for all of us, you couldn't win this race. We all know what this means." Magolor announced, keeping his composure despite being as upset as his fans were. "Deedle Doo, I am saddened to announce that you will not be able to participate in the race any farther; you risk serious bodily injury running on the track, and you would not be able to keep up with the other racers either way. This means that you would inevitably finish in last place whether you tried or not. As we are all aware, the rules say that whoever comes in last in a race will be eliminated from the tournament standings. I am sorry, but you have been eliminated from the tournament; you may stay and watch from the Contestant's Lobby if you wish, but you are no longer allowed to participate in the tournament itself. Participation from this point forward will result in your forced removal, as also stated by the rules. When you finish saying goodbye to your fans and fellow racers, I will send you to the lobby."

Deedle Doo reluctantly stood and turned to gaze at the now silenced crowd with an unreadable expression. Magolor gave him the microphone so he could speak, and Deedle Doo, emotions still unreadable, began his monologue, required when a competitor loses; "Well, fans, it looks like I just didn't have what it took to win the race today... But that doesn't mean I'll stop. On the contrary, I'll ask to watch the race again so I can see my mistakes and correct them for next year's tournament. Being honest, though, I have to say that I am disappointed that my Air Ride machine was destroyed, and even more disappointed because I lost in the first race." Deedle Doo took a second to pause and glance briefly at Disco. "But, if I had won, then the fans of Disco would have been saddened to see him sent home. I guess I can be happy for him, despite the loss being by his hands... Literally." He chuckled halfheartedly at his statement, then concluded; "Though it pains me, I have to bid you all adieu until next year, but on the bright side, I can watch the races in comfort rather than with nerve-wracking strategics in mind." He smirked and nodded to Pinky, who had no arms for him to shake with, carefully shook hands with The Blue Blur, then turned and offered his hand to Disco. Disco took it, looking profoundly shocked at the show of friendship in spite of the fact that it was he who cost Deedle Doo the race. Deedle Doo then turned to his fans and waved goodbye to all of them.

"Well, Deedle Doo, are you ready to leave for the lobby now?" Magolor asked after Deedle Doo turned to him. Deedle Doo nodded and, with a flick of Magolor's floating hand, disappeared in an instant, leaving only a beauteous blue powder behind. "And that wraps up the first race for now, so prepare for the second group of competitors to come out as soon as we get things straightened out here." With that, Magolor whisked away the other competitors to the Racer's Section of the Competitor's Lobby and cleaned up the track in no time.

"Alright, everybody, are you ready for the next race?!"

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_**Okay, since I know going through every single race will get tedious and repetitive, I'm only going to go through three or four per track, one of them featuring Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, or all three together, and the subsequent rivalries that go with them. And yes, one way of how the competitors get weeded out, the other being a finish in last place, so it's not like some point system or anything; I don't think I could remember who had what amount of points, being honest. -_- **_

_**And yes, I know I haven't updated often, but between chores and playing video games, I don't really get into the feel that often, but I WILL finish my stories, thank you very much... If I don't, you can all pancake me with a quadrillion (short scale or long scale) Purple Pikmin! (for those who don't know, a quadrillion is 1 followed by either 15 or 24 zeroes, respectively for the short and long scales)**_


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